My Top 10 Favorite Kitchen Tools

Every kitchen needs some tried-and-true kitchen tools to make everyday cooking and entertaining easier. This is a list of my top 10 favorite kitchen tools and where to buy them.

As you might suspect, I cook…a lot. Whether I’m making salads, soups, entrees or desserts, I find myself using the same kitchen tools over and over again. Friends and readers often ask me what my favorite tools and gadgets are, so I thought it was high time that I put together a list of my top 10 favorite kitchen tools. There’s a little bit of everything here, from the bigger items (that will hopefully last for years) to some simple tools that you may or may not already use in your kitchen.

Whether you are stocking your own kitchen drawers with the must-have tools or looking for gift ideas for newlyweds, there may be something on here that catches your eye.

Everyday Pan

If you’ve stopped by my blog before, you likely know that the Everyday Pan from Calphalon is, without a doubt, the most used pan in my kitchen. In our house, it lives up to its name…we truly use it everyday, for everything from eggs to stir-fried veggies to risotto. My mother-in-law bought this pan for us several years ago because she found that she was using hers almost exclusively. Trust me…you want this one in your cooking arsenal.

OXO Cookie Scoops

These handy tools from OXO may be called “cookie scoops”, but we use them for so much more, particularly meatballs and muffin batter. I use the medium and large scoops the most, but the small one can come in handy if you’re making mini muffins or cookies.

Shun Knife

There’s nothing important than having a flimsy, dull chef’s knife when prepping dinner. This Shun knife feels great in my hand and slices through veggies and meat beautifully. I have the 10-inch knife, but if you prefer something smaller, they also have an 8-Inch version. If you’re a cooking beast, you might want to go for the 12-inch.

Are these the cheapest knives around? Nope. But the money is well worth it when you find yourself still using these knives 20 years from now.

Glass bowl set

When I’m prepping food or storing leftovers in the fridge, I use far too many bowls. My glass bowl set has been going strong for almost 15 years and are some of the most-used items in my kitchen. There are several good sets available, such as this one and this one, and they are very reasonably priced.

Le Creuset French Oven

The French ovens from Le Creuset have been around for years for a good reason. They are the perfect size for soups, risottos and stews, and they last forever. I was lucky enough to inherit my grandparents’ Le Creuset that they made curry in for years and years, and it looks as though it came straight from the factory just yesterday.

OXO Measuring cups

Once you use these measuring cups, you will never use any others. The beauty of these OXO measuring cups is that you can look from above to gauge the correct amount of liquid, rather than stooping down to examine the measuring cup at eye level. They come in various sizes and we have two of each…they are THAT good.

Slow Cooker

I can’t begin to tell you how much I love this slow cooker from KitchenAid. It’s 6 quarts, which means that it can fit a huge amount of food, there are four different temperature settings (including “warm” to maintain the temperature of cooked food) and you can set the timer so your meal will stop cooking even if you’re not home (it automatically switches to the warm setting).

Lodge cast-iron

In my early cooking years, I never saw the use for cast-iron skillet. Now I wonder what I was thinking because there is nothing like a steak or pork tenderloin seared in a cast-iron pan, then finished in the oven. Seriously, the crust on the outside is like no other! Cast-iron pans are also great for making hashes and for pretty much any camping meal.

OXO scale

Yeah, I know…this is the third OXO item on the list. Their products are just so functional that I can’t help but fill my kitchen with their products. In my post on Portion Control for Weight Loss & Healthy Living, I talked about how helpful the OXO scale was in helping me to figure out the proper portions for my meal. This scale also has a handy feature…you can pull out the display so that it can still be viewed when large bowls are on the scale.

Cutting board

There are several things that I love about these cutting boards. First, they are dishwasher safe. Score! Second, the surface is safe for all knives, meaning that it won’t dull or damage them. Also, the cutting boards are heat resistant up to 350 degrees F, so they can double as trivets for serving.

I too wish to find a smaller size crockpot, but with digital settings. I keep looking but none has come into view yet.
Have you seen a ‘Danish Dough Whisk’? available from Lee Vally of Ontario, CA
There are on-line videos showing how to use it. Have been giving it as gifts. Have problem with use of right hand & it has helped so much re mixing doughs–gift receivers find same.http://www.leevalley.com

Dara, I would be lost without quite a few of the tools you listed. I love my cookie scoops and digital scale.

Another one I would add that I use a lot….my Microplane. I have both the fine one and the extra large one for grating cheese. I love the long thin one for zesting lemons, limes and oranges or grating garlic. I use both of them all the time.

A couple of good knives are definitely on my list. I gave away all my cast iron frying pans because they hurt my writsts. Now I wished I had kept one.
AND I need a mandolin slicer or however that is spelled.

I have all of the things on the list except a kitchen scale-I’ve never actually used one. However I have the Everyday Pan which I love but the rubber part of one of the handles has broken and when I wrote Calphalon about it, they told me I could return it at my expense and if it were still under warranty, they’d fix it. If not I could buy a new one or they’d send the old one back at my expense as well. However they would not tell me it if is still under warranty. Very frustrating and disappointed with Calphalon.

That’s definitely disappointing to hear. And how bizarre that they couldn’t tell you if it was still under warranty. Did you send in the warranty card when you bought it? All the same, I love that Everyday Pan. I use it…well, everyday.